Ask Me to Stay
by Slytherin at Heart1025
Summary: Ginny is engaged to Harry but has a certain blonde Slytherin on her mind. "Ten years I waited and you never came. I thought you were gone forever." With just a week before her wedding, Ginny has to choose between the man she loves and the man everyone expects her to marry.


_Hey Y'all! Well, I wrote this a while ago and have been saving it for a time when I have writer's block with my other story(ies). I hope you like it! Review!_

* * *

"What's wrong, Love?"

Ginny jumped at the sound of Harry's voice behind her. She glanced over her shoulder at him and saw that he was leaning on the door frame with his muscled arms crossed over his chest. She turned back to surveying the London skyline from the balcony of their flat. She leaned against the railing as she heard him join her there. Absentmindedly, she toyed with the thin silver band on her wrist.

"Nothing. Everything's fine," she answered, looking away from him.

"Not having any second thoughts, are you?" he joked. Ginny forced a laugh, cringing at how close he had come to the truth. He continued, "Just think, in a week's time, you'll be Mrs. Ginny Potter." He stood behind her, pulling her to him with his arms around her waist and his chin on her shoulder. He felt her tense and he frowned. "Really, Gin, what's the matter?"

"It's nothing," she answered quickly, brushing past him into their bedroom. She went to her wardrobe in search of a pair of pajama pants and a top. Harry watched her in silence as she readied herself for bed. He noted how she fiddled with the chain on her left wrist. She hardly ever took it off. He had asked her before where she had gotten it but she had always dodged the question, quickly changing the subject. He decided to try again as she began brushing out her soft red gold curls.

"Where did you get the bracelet, Gin?" he asked as nonchalantly as he could. She stopped her rhythmic brushing as her eyes glazed over with things remembered.

"An old friend," she whispered so softly he almost missed it. She shook herself, setting the brush down on her dressing table.

"Who was he?" Harry asked, an icy edge creeping into his voice.

"Why the sudden interest, Harry?" she stood quickly, suddenly irritated, turning to face her fiance.

"Because you obviously still have feelings for him!" his voice rising as his temper flared.

"That's ridiculous! I'm marrying you, aren't I?" she scoffed.

"For what reason? Because you love me or because that's what everyone expects from you?" he sneered down at her. She glared at him.

"Why do you suddenly care about my past boyfriends? Why do you suddenly feel the need to question our engagement?"

"So you did date him, then? The one who gave you the bracelet?"

"Yes. . . " it was like the fight had suddenly left her as she sank onto the mattress. She stared forlornly into nothingness.

"What happened? He obviously isn't here now, so why'd you hold onto the bracelet? You still have feelings for this long lost boyfriend but you're marrying me?" Harry was annoyed beyond belief. His fiance was in love with some random bloke and he didn't even know this guy's name.

"He left. He just walked out on me. Told me he was coming back one day. Here we are ten years later and he's still not here. Not a single letter in those ten years. Not even a phone call, a note. Nothing. After about three years of no contact, I gave up. I needed to move on." A single tear rolled down her alabaster cheek.

"Why do you keep the bracelet? It's just a reminder of what's gone. Why do you still like this guy after he just up and left you?" Harry was almost at a loss. Here he was, engaged and she was mooning over some guy she hadn't seen or heard from in ten bloody years.

"Because I can't let go," she murmured.

Harry stood still for a long moment, neither making a sound, before he walked to his closet, throwing clothes into a bag.

"Well, until you can, I'll be staying with friends. The wedding's off for now. Figure out who you want, because, Ginny, I don't play second fiddle to anyone." Harry stormed from the room, slamming the front door behind him.

* * *

A week passed and Ginny stood in her room, her mother and many sisters-in-law fussing over her and her gown.

"I'm so glad that you and Harry fixed whatever it was that you were arguing about," Molly fussed over her veil. Ginny smiled weakly.

"Oh, yes. Wonderful," she murmured. Her fingers automatically went to her wrist but they found it empty. She sighed as she dropped her hands at her sides. Just then a knock sounded on the door, interrupting the hum of chatter in the room.

"Ready in five."

The bridesmaids all filed out followed by a beaming Molly. Ginny stood in front of her mirror, and sighed again.

"You are even more beautiful then the day I left," a deep voice spoke softly from the doorway. Ginny froze. She'd know that voice anywhere. It had haunted her dreams for the last ten years. Slowly, ever so slowly, she turned to face the man she was sure she would never see again. Her hazel eyes met silver orbs that swirled with every shade of the color imaginable.

"Draco," she gasped, stunned, before flinging herself into his arms. She sobbed into his chest as he stroked her fiery tresses.

"Shh, I'm here. Shh," he soothed.

"Ten years. Ten years I waited and you never came. I thought you were gone forever," she whimpered.

""I know, Love. I'm so sorry," he pulled back enough to brush the tears from her cheeks with the pad of his thumbs as he cupped her face. "I wanted to come find you. So badly it hurt."

"Then why didn't you?"

"My past caught up to me. There were those who wanted me dead. I thought that the only way to keep you safe was to leave. To lead them away from you. I couldn't bear the thought of something happening to you."

"You could have written! You could have called! Anything! I thought you were dead, Draco!" she yelled, the pain and fear from the passed ten years coming back to hit her full force as tears started falling down her face once more.

"I was in hiding. I couldn't contact anyone without tipping them off to where I was. And I couldn't risk them finding you and linking you to me. They would have captured you to lure me out and it would have worked too."

"How are you here then if these men wanted you dead?"

"The last of them were arrested or passed away last month. I was in New York City. There's no better place to hide then in a crowded city. I got back to England just last night and I heard that you were marrying Potter today. I came to see you one last time as Ginny Weasley rather than Ginny Potter," Draco tried to smile in congratulations but he failed miserably.

"Ginny?" Ron's voice called through the door, "We're ready when you are." His footsteps retreated down the stairs.

Ginny hesitated as Draco stepped aside to let her to the door. When she was right in front of him she turned.

"Ask me to stay," she spoke quickly.

"What?" Draco asked, stunned.

"Ask me to stay with you. Ask me to leave Harry and I will. Say anything and I'll come with you. We can run away together."

Draco just looked at her in astonished silence. After several long moments, Ginny turned to the door, her heart sinking into the depths of her stomach. As her hand reached for the handle, Draco spoke from behind her.

"Stay, please, stay. Ginevra, I love you."

* * *

The next day, the papers were all plastered with the headline "Weasley leaves The Boy-Who-Lived at the Alter for Malfoy." They had gone down to the wedding to tell everyone the news. Molly had cried, Ron had passed out, Harry had yelled and screamed himself hoarse, and the rest of her family had just looked on in utter disappointment. All, that is, except Angelina, George's wife. Angie had helped her escape with Draco out the backdoor of the Burrow as chaos broke out.

Ginny now stood overlooking her new home. She heard Draco come up behind her as he wrapped an arm around her waist as the other went around her shoulders. She smiled, leaning back into his chest.

"Good morning, Mr. Malfoy."

"Good morning, Mrs. Malfoy. How did you sleep?"

"Hmm, wonderfully. And how did you fare?"

"Well, very well," he murmured as he kissed her neck. She sighed in contentment, her fingers playing with the silver band around her wrist once again.

"I love you, Draco."

"I love you, too, Ginevra."


End file.
